‘Emily in Paris’ Season 3 Episode 1 Recap: Emily Cooper Still Can’t Make a Decision
Darren Star’s Netflix series Emily in Paris returns with season 3 on Dec. 21. The premiere episode has no shortage of Parisian fashion, sights, and drama. Here’s a refresher regarding where we left Emily Cooper (Lily Collins) at the end of Emily in Paris Season 2 and our recap of the first episode of season 3, “J’ai Deux Amours (I Have Two Lovers).”
[SPOILER ALERT: Spoilers ahead regarding Emily in Paris Season 3 Episode 1, “J’ai Deux Amours (I Have Two Lovers).”]
‘Emily in Paris’ Season 2 finale recap
Emily’s workaholic nature remains true throughout the second season of the Netflix series. She has finally been accepted by her Savoir colleagues and strengthens her friendships with Mindy (Ashley Park), Camille (Camille Razat), and Gabriel (Lucas Bravo) throughout the season. She also finds romance with Alfie (Lucien Laviscount).
At the end of Emily in Paris Season 2, Sylvie (Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu) decides to leave Savoir to launch her own company, taking some of her biggest clients in her exit. Sylvie asks Emily to join her, but Emily’s boss from Chicago, Madeline (Kate Walsh), prevents her from giving Sylvie an emphatic and resounding “Yes.”
Season 2 concludes with Emily feeling torn. On the one hand, staying with Madeline means taking a step back in her career. On the other hand, siding with Sylvie means stabbing her mentor in the back, which would leave Emily feeling guilty.
Emily is still searching for her identity in season 3 episode 1
The first episode of Emily in Paris Season 3 is aptly named, but not because Emily is in love with Alfie and Gabriel. It’s because she’s trying to balance two jobs.
The decision of who to work for weighs heavily on Emily in the season 3 premiere of Emily in Paris. The episode opens with a nightmare in which Sylvie and Madeline fight over Emily atop the Eiffel Tower and ultimately cause Emily to plummet to the bottom.
This pressure haunts Emily in the episode. Instead of making a decision, Emily gives in to her most prominent character flaw — her inability to decide. Emily wants to stay in Paris and see where a career with Sylvie will take her. However, she chooses to lie to Madeline and Sylvie and double-dip stretch herself thin, working for both women simultaneously.
Since this is Emily in Paris, her plan doesn’t work out. Season 3 Episode 1 concludes with Madeline interrupting Sylvie and Emily’s sit-down with the executives at McDonald’s regarding their McBaguette campaign.
This is when things take a turn for Emily. After Madeline’s water breaks, Emily tries to accompany her to the hospital. However, feeling crossed by her employee, Madeline denies the help. Then, Sylvie confronts Emily’s decision to work for her and Madeline simultaneously, calling the decision “so American” and firing her to make the decision easier.
Emily’s romance with Alfie hits a speed bump, too
Amid the McDonald’s meeting chaos, Emily misses Alfie’s going away party, which is taking place at Gabriel’s restaurant. He’s returning to London, so Emily wanted to see him off. But as the kind of woman who always places work above pleasure, she misses the gathering.
Alfie is one of the only people to call Emily on her poor friendship skills. At the end of “I Have Two Lovers,” Alfie tells her: “I know your career means a lot to you; I just didn’t realize it meant more than us.”
Emily’s inability to decide when she’ll go to London to see him causes another rift in her life. In the end, Alfie throws the lesson about Jean-Paul Sartre from their French class in Emily’s face — “not choosing is still a choice.”
Watch Emily in Paris on Netflix.
